T XVI. 



THE FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 



A. GENERAL STATISTICS. 



214. EXTENT AND EELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE FISHEEIES. 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. The fisheries of the Pacific coast, like those of almost every part of 

 the United States beyond the limits of New England, are still in a low degree of development. 

 About 7,000 miles of the territory of the United States border upon the Pacific Ocean, and its 

 northernmost arm, the Sea of Kamtchatka, but the income derived from the fisheries of this exten- 

 sive tract is about $5,000,000 per annum less than the revenue which New England, with her 500 

 miles of coast line, draws from a similar source. 



EELATIVE IMPORTANCE OP THE FISHERIES OF DIFFERENT PLACES. The most important of 

 the Pacific States and Territories, considering the amount of capital invested in the fisheries, is 

 California, which is directly interested in the products of the water to the extent of nearly 

 $1,140,000, and much of the capital which will be credited to Alaska and other places is really 

 controlled by the citizens of that State. The California fisheries give much smaller returns, how 

 ever, than those of either Oregon or Alaska. 



The city of San Francisco is the metropolis of the Pacific fisheries, and almost all the products 

 of every sort, which are not consumed locally, come hither for use or shipment. 



EELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE FISHERIES FOR DIFFERENT SPECIES. One of the leading 

 fisheries of the region under consideration is that for salmon. The value of fish of this species 

 taken in the Columbia Eiver, where the fishery is most extensively prosecuted, is $2,728,602. The 

 entire catch in 1880 was no less than 53,844,000 pounds, for which the fishermen received $1,054,027. 

 Nearly 43,400,000 pounds were canned before being placed upon the market, and their worth was 

 thus increased by $2,345,547, which, being added to the former amount gives them value ill market- 

 able condition of nearly $3,400,000 at first hands. It will be noticed that this amount is over one- 

 third of the entire production of the west coast fisheries. 



The marine salt industry, which is confined to the State of California, has products amounting 

 to $302,000. 



The returns from the whale fishery of California amount to $202,000. No whaling is done in 

 Oregon or Washington Territory, and $500 worth of oil is the only contribution from the bulky 

 cetacean towards the wealth of Alaska. 



About $2,172,000 accrues from the fur-seal and other pinnigrades, with their neighbor, the 

 sea-otter. The capital invested by the Alaska Commercial Company in this trade comprises nearly 

 one-fifth of the entire amount dependent upon the fishery industries of the Pacific. 



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